Gender Roles in the Economic World
By Jonathan Solares
Throughout the history of mankind the roles of gender have changed and evolved.
In the ever changing world we live in, the income and roles played within a
work environment have changed since the generations of x, y, baby boomers, and
millennium. Due to many movements and organizations there have been changes to
how the way women are treated and paid in the work environment.
One of the major changes of the past couple decades has been that of a woman's
position in that society, prestige, and working environment. The gender roles a
woman plays in a working environment and how they are treated have been fought
in many courts and protested by many movements, though most of these have been
successful some have not. Although we live in a now very open and liberal world
women are still not viewed as equals in the work environment, although the
difference in pay is much less than before. The positions women can take are
much wider than say in the 70's.
An
interesting example of positions a woman can take in a work place is that of a
nurse which used to be a purely male position of labor before The United States
Civil War and then a rise in female nurses increased to the point that it
became a female dominated position of labor. This was until more modern times
where ironically history has begun to repeat in that there has been a steady
rise in amount of males in the position of being a nurse. In present times
almost any position of the labor force that is available to a man is also now
available to a woman.
The
percentage of women in the workforce has also increased considerably from the
1950's. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states "In 1950 about one in three
women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five
women of working age were in the labor force. Among women age 16 and over, the
labor force participation rate was 33.9 percent in 1950, compared with 59.8
percent in 1998." The Bureau also goes to state "As more women are
added to the labor force, their share will approach that of men. In 2008, women
will make up about 48 percent of the labor force and men 52 percent. In 1988,
the respective shares were 45 and 55 percent." The present amount of
difference in weekly wages varies due to race, ethnicity and age though the
difference between wages is between 100-500 USD. Women are paid 80% of their
male counterparts, a 20% difference. This compared with the percentage it used
to be before the 80’s are very much considerable. Even with the Equal Pay Act
of 1963 there is still a considerable difference in pay though not as much as
there used to be. These rights for equal wages have been fought since
before the sixties and are apparent that it will be fought for many more years
to come until there is true equality between sexes.
The way a woman is treated in the work environment. This subject is sometimes a
touchy subject with certain people. This is due to many people having different
opinions on gender roles in society and the work environment. It is due to
varying age differences, and liberal standing within a work environment. Even
though our civilization has become more liberal there are still many prejudices
that people have not just accepted that deal with ethnicity, but also with
gender and roles that each gender should play in not only a work enviornment
but also in marriage and family.
There are still many people who believe in the old idea that women should not
work and instead it should be solely the male who should be the bread winner of
the family. Then there are those who believe a woman should be able to fend for
herself and should make a name for them. There are mixes of the two also.
However, in past times women weren’t even allowed to work or even speak their
mind. Also before almost all of society would consider less than human they
were degraded and not even allowed to talk in social groupings. Things began to
change after the Dark ages women started to become more liberal. By the time
after United States Civil War it had begun to become common to see women in the
work environment. Then beginning in the 60's there began movements for more equal
rights for women.
Movements in the 50's that had led to the anti discrimination and equal rights
laws, had affected the mindset of the world. These movements started by people
such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X affected the laws of discrimination
and laws of equal rights. Not only did the movments in the 50's change a large
portion of peoples perception of race and ethniticity but also that of gender.
This paved the way for the Feminist and Equal Rights movements of the following
decades. These movements paved the way for women to have the ability to vote
and serve in carious positions of government that were unavaliable in past
times. Eventually more rights have been given to women, women are not viewed as
less human because of being a female, and gender is now less discriminated
against, though some laws and rights are still being fought. Sexisim has
decreseaed in a large percentage in the past century and we will continue to
see widespread changes in this aspect for many years and possibly decades to
come.
From what we have seen and noticed in history the way women are seen has
changed considerably from before. Though still not viewed as equals there has
been much change in the view people have of women, their social position, their
rights and legal status. This will continue to evolve as the view of both
genders will continue to change and as will the equality of rights and laws of
not only race and ethnicity, but also that of gender. The inequality in the
labor force will also change hopefully for the better.
Opinion
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